Ex-supervisor now a fraudster

Share this:

Twenty years ago, James Kalfsbeek served on the Colusa County Board of Supervisors. Apparently, it didn’t make him a believer in the government’s power to enforce its laws against everyday people, including insurance fraudsters.

A federal judge in Sacramento sentenced Kalfsbeek, 72, to 10 years in prison this week for operating a phony auto insurance company. Another defendant, Donna Rowe, 59, got four years, and two others were sentenced earlier.

Federal prosecutors said Kalfsbeek and Rowe described themselves as “sovereign citizens” who were outside the authority of the U.S. and state governments, which they allegedly referred to as “alien corporations.”

The company Kalfsbeek founded, Puget’s Sound Agricultural Society, operated from 1994 to 2002 and charged customers $500 per person and another $250 per vehicle to pay accident claims. But when a customer had an accident, prosecutors said, the company would raise the customer’s rates to pay off a small claim and simply ignore larger claims. Also uncompensated, according to prosecutors, were any accidents involving alcohol and claims for pain and suffering, which the company considered to be part of God’s plan.

Not surprisingly, some of the company’s customers found themselves paying large sums out of pocket and even had their licenses suspended for not having genuine insurance. Accident victims also suffered. In one case, a Puget’s Sound customer was found responsible for a fatal accident in Michigan and was ordered to pay $20 million. The company responded with a bogus document that purported to authorize the U.S. government to pay $20 million, plus $5 million in interest, to the grieving families, prosecutors said.

Kalfsbeek, convicted by a jury last year of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering, pleaded for leniency in sentencing papers. His lawyer argued for a four-year term, saying Kalfsbeek didn’t get rich from the scheme and citing his public service as a Colusa County supervisor from 1987 to 1991.

Prosecutors called for a sentence of nearly 20 years, citing the defendant’s “total lack of comprehension and remorse.”

Judge Lawrence Karlton settled on a 10-year term and said he’ll hold a hearing later to decide on restitution to the company’s victims.